Creamy without Cream Lentil Soup (vegan recipe)

It's a rainy and cold December day... I'm totally in the mood for some delicious soup!

What you need:
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup red lentils
8 cups organic vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more to taste

What you do:
Rinse the lentils well and set aside.

Heat oil in a large stock pot, add onions and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the celery, carrots and the garlic powder. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the lentils, 4 cups of vegetable stock and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 25 minutes.

Add juice from lemon. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Carefully pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth.

Transfer the soup back to the pot. Add the remaining 4 cups of vegetable broth and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in salt, white pepper, and cayenne.

Serve with a sprinkle of cayenne. Enjoy!

Experiment with Almond Flour: Almond Flour Banana Bread

Again... we were stuck with too many over-ripe bananas. This time I decided to experiment with almond flour. I haven't baked with almond flour before, so I wouldn't call this recipe perfect. I'm already thinking that I could eliminate the whole wheat flour... Anyway, I'll keep tweaking it and hopefully update my recipe the next time I need to get rid of some bananas.

This was also an experiment with SparkRecipes.com. This is a cool website that I stumbled across which allows you to search, share, and save recipes. This site has many options for searching recipes by dietary needs including gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, low carb, and more. That's not all... my favorite feature is the recipe calculator. Simply add each ingredient of your recipe, then click the "calculate info" button to find out the nutritional content of your recipe.

A later experiment will be to compare my regular banana bread recipe to my almond flour banana bread recipe. But maybe somethings are better left unknown.

See my recipe below, or visit http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1871535.

All Natural Halloween Goodie Bags

Every year, our family assembles 200+ goodie bags for Halloween Trick-or-Treaters. All natural, of course!

This year's bag has:
jelly bracelets
sour worms
lollipop
milk chocolate square
Glee gum

Get here early! They go fast.

Happy Haunting.

Pear and Ginger Muffins

These are deelish and easy! No mixer needed for these muffins. The recipe below is from Nigella Lawson.

You'll need:
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 6 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced pears (approx. 1/4 inch dice)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line 12 cup muffin pan with paper cups.

2. Mix flour, sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, baking powder, and ground ginger.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the sour cream, oil, honey, and eggs. Fold into the dry ingredients.

4. Mix in the diced pears. Pour into muffin cups.

5. Sprinkle the top of each with the remaining 6 teaspoons of light brown sugar. Bake for 20 minutes.

Eat while warm!!! Freeze the extra.

DON'T EAT THAT!

I know that reading the label of everything that you place into your grocery cart sounds ridiculous, but if you knew what you were consuming unwillingly, you may think differently.

I read every label of every item that I buy at the grocery store.

• If i look at the ingredients list and it's too long... I put it back.
• If it contains several mumbo-jumbo long words that I do not know... I put it back.
• Most importantly, if I see any food dyes, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, or the preservatives BHA, BHT, or TBHQ... I put it back. 

These few things make reading labels a little easier, because if I see any of these things I don't have to read any further. 

Don't Eat That

Some ingredients are not as easily identifiable. This is why I have the iPhone DON'T EAT THAT app. I thank my good neighbor and friend Christy, for introducing this app to me a couple years ago. This app has made shopping a little less hectic. The DON'T EAT THAT app has access to 1500+ food additives, ingredients and chemicals, including those that are carcinogenic, unhealthy for children, or are commonly known allergens. This information is simply stored onto your iPhone, so no Wi-Fi or 3G access is necessary. Just download, head to the grocery store, and shop. Use the app to search ingredients by different categories like: 'harmful to children', 'banned', 'carcinogens', 'genetically modified', 'allergies', and 'asthma'.


I admit, at first this seems like an overwhelming trip to the grocery store... It took me a few visits to get used to the process. Overtime you will learn what products 'work' for your family and which items are harmful. I do not this it always necessary to buy organic, as long as I am armed with the knowledge of the other ingredients that my family consumes. 


Our quality of life and quality of the food that we put into our bodies is too important to me to ignore.

This bread is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

Saturday morning... GAMES WERE CANCELLED.  I know I shouldn't be happy, but I'm so glad that we didn't have to wake up early to hurry off to muddy fields to watch soccer games.


Since I didn't have to rush around this morning, I decided to bake some delicious crumb top banana bread. No need for a mixer with this recipe.


Ingredients for banana bread

• 3 to 4 slightly over ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter (+ extra for buttered loaf pan)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Ingredients for crumb topping (optional)

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions for banana bread
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With a wooden spoon and large mixing bowl, mix melted butter into the smashed bananas. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla. Mix well. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture. Mix in. Add flour and mix. Pour mixture into a buttered loaf pan.


Directions for crumb topping
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over bread mixture.


Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Slice and Enjoy!

Are our kids over-scheduled?

It's Friday morning... As I'm working at my computer, looking at the rain outside, I cannot help but pray for an overnight downpour that will cancel soccer games tomorrow. It would be really nice to be able to pick the kids up from school and let them relax before we go to dinner with family tonight. Then, not have to worry about being awake early to get to morning soccer games. I'm exhausted, so I know my kids must be exhausted... right?

The school week starts at 6:30am Monday... to school, then soccer practice, and not home till about 7:30/8pm. Don't forget homework, dinner, and showers. Tuesdays... school, cross-country training, hockey practice, not home till about 9:45/10pm. This type of schedule continues throughout the week. In one hand, I'm happy that we can do these activities for our children... On the other hand, I wonder if it's too much.

I tell myself, often, that the kids will appreciate the effort my husband and I put into their interests, maybe when they are older. I know that I am not forcing them to do anything, they chose to participate in these activities themselves. Before they commit to any activity, each boy is asked if they feel that they can handle the load and extra responsibility. School is their #1 responsibility, they know that... but joining a team makes sports #2. The boys understand that they are part of a team that needs them.

I want to research this subject more, but more importantly, I think the best thing - for my family - is to take it season by season. I think I WILL know if schedules get to hectic for my kids, and that's when I'll adjust accordingly. For now, I'm happy that we are creating family time, to go to each others games and support one another. Activities are great for social and emotional development. We will have free time, once in awhile, that will allow everyone to reboot. Till then, stay busy!

A study by the Society for Research in Child Development states that organized activities are good for kids.  According to that study, kids who are engaged in 20 hours or more of scheduled activities a week -- only make up between 2 to 6 percent of the entire population. Those kids love what they are doing and are staying busy because they want to, not because their parents pressure them to, and not because they think it will make their college application look better.

The study finds that kids engaged in organized activities perform better academically than their peers who do not. Busy kids are more likely to get good grades, graduate from high school, go to college, and less likely to use drugs. In short, contrary to popular belief, participation in organized activities is associated with positive outcomes.

Following a long day of classes, kids need to do something completely different. This allows them to absorb information in a new way. Parents might see kids running around on the playground as a waste of time, but something important is happening during those moments: The child is learning and making decisions.

EWG releases their latest Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

I would love to eat all organic all the time, but it can get expensive. Especially when it comes to produce! 


EWG has released their 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. I use this guide to buy smart and reduce my family's exposure to pesticides as much as possible. Eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all!


This guide will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce. Click here to download the guide as a PDF.


Please always remember to wash all produce, especially conventional produce. The risk of ingesting pesticides could be greater than reflected by USDA test data. EWG has not evaluated various produce washes for efficacy or potentially toxicity. However, since some plants absorbed pesticides systemically,  a produce wash would have limited effect. The safest choice is to use the Shopper’s Guide to avoid conventional versions of those fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues. I use plain ol' water to wash my produce. When I feel the need I add a little baking soda to the wash, and rinse well.

Make sure to carefully look at the number on the fruits and veggies you are buying:

• Conventionally grown fruits and veggies start with the number 4.
• Organically grown fruits and veggies start with the number 9.
• Genetically modified fruits and veggies start with the number 8.

organic

conventional

For example: I stay away from the gross Grapple. Have you seen this thing? It once was a perfectly fine apple, but then they had to inject it with artificial grape flavor. YUCK!!! 

GROSS!!!

Bottom line: Be sure to understand ALL labels... You could be tricked by misplaced fruits and veggies.

Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens from EWG

 It is 9:30 AM and it already feels like 90º!!! I feel it's the perfect time to address protecting our skin from harmful sun rays. I just received an email from EWG about safer sunscreens that I would love to share with my readers.

EWG's top-rated sunscreens all contain the minerals zinc or titanium. They are the right choice for people who are looking for the best UVA protection without any sunscreen chemical considered to be a potential hormone disruptor. None of the products contain oxybenzone or vitamin A and none are sprayed or powdered.

Click here to see the entire article for EWG's 5th Annual Sunscreen Report.
The article also allows you to look-up products and see their hazard score.


Here are the top 5 best beach & sport sunscreens

(Products sorted alphabetically.)

	Product and Score
	Alba Botanica Sun: Mineral Sunscreen Fragrance Free, SPF 30  Sun: Mineral Sunscreen Kids, SPF 30
	All Terrain Aquasport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30  TerraSport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30  KidSport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30
	Aubrey Organics Natural Sun Sport Stick Unscented Sunscreen, SPF 30  Natural Sun Unscented Sensitive Skin/Children Sunscreen, SPF 30+  Natural Sun Saving Face Sunscreen, SPF 15
	Aveeno Baby Natural Protection Mineral Block Face Stick, SPF 50
	BabyGanics Cover Up Baby Sunscreen for Face & Body, Fragrance Free, SPF 50+  Cover Up Baby Sunscreen Stick, Fragrance Free, SPF 50

Quick School Bag Lunch

Tired of packing PBJ for school lunch? I know that my boys are tired of eating it. I tried something a bit different for their lunch and they loved it. Check it out below, and please feel free to share any school lunch ideas you may have.

I packed a delicious lunch containing:

Applegate Farm's - natural pepperoni

Sorrento Stringsters - mozzerella string cheese

Harris Teeter Naturals - organic baked snack crackers

Horizon Organic - chocolate milk

organic green grapes

 

Mini Breakfast • Big Smiles

Van's Natural Food Chocolate Chip Mini Waffles

I have found a new go-to for a quick breakfast that pleases my hungry boys. We usually do not have much time in the morning, so I try to have easy breakfast items available, like muffins, cereal, bagels, waffles... My boys love Van's Natural Foods Chocolate Chip Mini Waffles. Try this quick trick for added yumminess.

For 2 hungry school age boys, you will need:

some natural peanut butter

1 banana

4 Van's chocolate chip mini waffles

Step one:

toast the waffles

Step two:

pull the mini waffles apart

Step three:

top each mini waffle with peanut butter

(I use Natural Jif)

Step four:

top each dollop of peanut butter with a slice of the banana

(I like organic Chiquita bananas)

Step five:

serve up to those hungry kids with a tall glass of juice or milk

Enjoy!

Do you want a soundtrack for your walk around National Mall? There's an app for that!

This is too cool not to share. Washington DC-based music duo Bluebrains’ is set to release the first 'location aware' album. Simply title 'The National Mall' this app is a site-specific piece of music that responds to the listeners location within the stretch of, you guessed it, The National Mall in Washington DC. This is the first in a series of location-aware albums Bluebrain will create. 


HOW DOES IT WORK? ‘The National Mall’ works by tracking a users location via the iPhones built-in GPS capabilities. Hundreds of zones within the Mall are tagged and alter the sound based on where the listener is located in proximity to them. Zones overlap and interact in dynamic ways that, while far from random, will yield a unique experience with each listen. The proprietary design that is the engine behind the app will stay hidden from view as the melodies, rhythms, instrumentation and pace of the music vary based on the listeners’ chosen path. ‘The National Mall’ is an ambitious project that will allow users to listen to and interact with a work of music in a way that’s never been possible before.


'The National Mall' will be available in the Apple App Store in the coming weeks. 


Click Bluebrain to learn more.

I never thought I would be...

I never thought that I would be...
the mom who blogs about eating habits;
the girl who Rocks the RED for her hometown CAPS, although they are down 3 in the best of 7;
the CAPS fan that makes chili in prep to watch game 4 of round 2;
but here I am.

False Alarm Chili w/ all natural beef and sausage

organic green peppers, onions, diced tomatos and kidney beans.

Served with all natural sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

Let's go CAPS!!!

Change Your Life by Changing What You Eat

Feingold Program - The Basics

One of Many Posts

Did you know that certain things that you eat could contribute to behavioral and health issues. These issues may include:

• ADD/ADHD
• Asthma
• Autism, PDD, Aspergers
• Bedwetting
• Depression
• Dyslexia, Dysgraphia

• Learning Disabilities
• Ear Infections
• Eczema, Hives (Urticaria)
• Eye Muscle Disorders, Strabismus, Nystagmus
• Headaches, Migraines
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Seizures
• Sleep Disorders, Nightmares, Night Terrors
• Speech Difficulties
• Tourette Syndrome
• Violence, aggression

Several studies on food dyes and flavorings, diet and ADHD, and more have shown that certain synthetic food additives can have serious learning, behavior, and/or health effects for sensitive people. The Feingold Program (aka Feingold Diet) is a test to determine if certain foods or food additives are triggering particular symptoms. Think of it as the way people used to eat before "hyperactivity" and "ADHD" became household words, and before asthma and chronic ear infections became so very common.

The program is split into two stages. Stage One is the initial period during which specific items are eliminated from diet for at least four to six weeks.

The items to eliminate are:

• Artificial (synthetic) colors/dyes

• Artificial (synthetic) flavors
• Artificial (synthetic) sweeteners - Aspartame
• Artificial (synthetic) preservatives - BHA, BHT, TBHQ

• and Natural Salicylates - a natural form of aspirin

After you feel comfortable with the response received from Stage One, move onto Stage Two. In this stage you carefully reintroduce salicylates into the diet.

If you would like to learn more, I highly suggest visiting the Feingold website. Although foods additives can induce many different symptoms in different people, the majority of families who use the Feingold Program do so to help a family member with behavior and/or learning problems. Try it before medicating a child with ADD/ADHD. Try it while medicating a child for ADD/ADHD. Just try it. I'm positive you will notice a favorable response in yourself and in your children. 

Check back for more updates and GOOD LUCK!

xo

The post would not have been possible without the amazing information at www.feingold.org.

Homemade Cookies and Cream Milkshakes = Yummy Treat

It has been way to long since my last post. The family and I were enjoying Spring Break with family and friends. It was a much needed break from day to day work. I hope that everyone out there had a safe and enjoyable time as well.


During our fun time, my husband Ross made the family delicious Homemade Cookies and Cream Milkshakes using nothing but the best ingredients. No Oreo's here! He used Newman's Own Newman-O's. Blended with Breyers all natural chocolate ice cream (in the black box), a little organic milk, and topped with homemade whipped cream and a strawberry garnish. These milkshakes were all natural and all gourmet.


Delicious. Thanks honey for the yummy treat.

GO ORGANIC FOR EARTH DAY!

IT'S EARTH DAY! Make a healthy change in your diet and go organic. Organic crops are healthier than conventional crops, have no nasty additives or pesticides, are not genetically modified, undergo strict USDA standards, is safer for wildlife and the environment, and simply just tastes better. Make a healthy change and make Earth Day Every Day! Go Organic!

For more great reasons to go organic, read this great post from HealthNewsDigest.com

Last Minute Basket Case!

I only have a couple of days left to give the Easter Bunny hints for the all-natural/ organic treats. I hope these last minute tips will help.

Try using all-natural food coloring for the Easter eggs. India Tree has great natural decorating colors and can be found at most food stores selling all-natural products. Create soft pastels to rich jewel tones using these plant based colorants. India Tree also has a wide range of decorating sugars.

India Tree decorative products

Instead of peanut butter cups that are full of unwanted chemicals, try Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. They are creamy, delicious, and do not have any artificial colors, artificial flavors, or preservatives.

available at Trader Joe's

Lastly, for the Easter Bunny touch, add Annie's Homegrown Bunny Graham Friends and Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks. Available at most grocery stores and Target. 

Hoppy Easter everyone. Do not allow the holiday stress defeat you from providing better treats for your family.